What Causes Sleepiness When Ill?

Every time a human or an animal is sick, they become fatigued and sleepy. Researchers are using a microscopic roundworm that’s providing an explanation of how that all occurs. According to a study from the researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, they reveal, by a study published in eLife, the mechanism for this sleepiness.

A worm’s simple nervous system has shown how a single nerve cell named ALA coordinates an organism-wide response to sickness. The cells are under stress during sickness and organisms experience sleepiness to promote sleep and recover from the cellular stress. …read more